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In college, my roommate Adam returned from the holiday break with a new alarm clock he'd received as a Christmas gift. (My dorm days were a bit before the smartphone era and we all still used actual bedside clocks to wake up for our 8:00am classes). This particular alarm clock was special; it featured a

Nothing beats a big old chunk of wood. Fine joinery and glue-ups are great, but I'll take a solid slab any day. Sometimes, it's nice to be in awe of craftsmanship. But sometimes, it's nice to just be in awe of nature.

Let it be stated, for the record, that I'm naturally a night owl. I hate waking up in the morning.

I'm not one of those people who are wired to pop out of bed, to the tune of that Rossini piece that plays at sunrise in cartoons, with a spring in my step and a grin on my face. (Being a morning person is so out of my orbit that I don't know if that's how early birds actually feel, or if it's just my pre-coffee-grump perception.)

You know what I do love? The feeling of accomplishing so many of the day's to-dos, especially the things that are both short-term urgent and long-term important, and looking up at the clock to realize it's barely lunchtime. I love reaching the end of a work day with the relief that comes with giving the whole day my full effort. I love the feeling of being proactive, which means that, though being an early bird isn't my natural inclination, I love its effects.

So, how did I ditch the hoot owls and start rising to catch the proverbial worm? Read on for some tips that helped me.

I wasn't always a bedmaker. It wasn't until I was living in the dorms in college, and my bed also had to serve as the sofa, chair, desk, laundry-folding area, and dining table that I got in the habit of the daily bedclothes readjusting. And my bed needs it, cause I sleep like a freaking tornado and things end up in impossible places.

Need to spice things up in the bedroom? (not like that). Adding a statement headboard to your space can help you revamp the look in your bedroom by making it look "full" without having to invest tons in other furniture pieces. Take a look!

If you're a morning person — congratulations. Seriously, we're legitimately happy for you. The ability to sleep well, feel rested, and then be ready to get going nice and early is a real gift, and you're lucky to be wired that way.

For the rest of us, mornings can be rough. Especially in the wintertime, when it's dark, and cold, and tens of thousands of years of natural selection are encouraging you to stay hibernating so you can protect your genes from freezing off.

Weekend project? On a Thursday? Yep, and for two reasons: one, I'll be out of town tomorrow, doing a weekend intensive course and dive program to get my SCUBA certification. But two, and most importantly, this storage headboard project is exactly the sort of thing you could put together in a weekend.

Sometimes we forget that our bedroom is one of the key areas of our living space - if not the most important. If you're still sporting an 1998 edition IKEA duvet and mismatched pillows that were hand-me-downs from your previous roommates, then it's time to upgrade.

Don't you hate it when you're ready to plug in your phone for the night and the dang cable has fallen off your night stand and into the void between your bed and the wall? Yea, so did I until I invented this lovely walnut Phone Throne!

This DIY headboard project makes a very fine way to add a little rustic texture to your sleep space. It uses a 5x7' canvas tarp (twenty bucks!) and, the best part, no sewing. Just some 2x4s, a bit of plywood, and some staples and screws to hold it all together.

Look, we know you're a grownup. You know it's essential to eat breakfast, and to never be late to work. But that doesn't make hearing that damn alarm go off any easier. So, no matter what time you have to wake up, here's how to make that first hour of the day go smoother, mean more, and set yourself up for success.

Over the weekend, the park down the street hosted a "Movies in the Park," and the main feature? Back to the Future. (Instagrammed here and here.) Fans and anyone in Sellwood park that night will recall the opening scene, pre-guitar amp blowout,

The DIY blogosphere is rife with dresser makeovers. Like, completely full of them. And most involve some rescued thrift store piece, dinged up and the wooden finish too 70s to bear, which gets sanded, painted, and perhaps something graphic or colorful applied to the drawers. It's a great trick, practical, useful, and affordable, and you can find a million tutorials on how to go about it.

A bedroom is often the most overlooked room in the house. You spend the big money on the rooms your guests will see - quality, lasting furniture for the living room, a dining table for hosting - or on practical pieces, like small appliances in the kitchen, or setting up your media gear for music all over your home.

Young Caiden Dutilly had recently outgrown his toddler room, and was ready for his first "big boy" bed. So his dad built him one, and by "one," we mean, a scale model All Terrain Armored Transport bunk bed, complete with a secret compartment for storing Jedi supplies, LEGO displays, and a window for mid-sleep checkups.

Check out these cool photos to see how the whole thing was put together:

The work of Guatemalan photographer Luis Gonzalez Palma explores his mixed Latin and Mayan heritage. In his latest series, Ara Solis, he explores the relationship of colonialism and the draw towards exploration and adventure. "The photographer retains his center of attention on his cultural background through these figurative representations. It appears to be symbolic of the European migration to the west and settlement in the Americas with a dream.

The nightstand or bedside table is an essential. Regardless of how minimalist-y you live, everyone needs a place to store a few essentials: your alarm clock, your glasses, a glass of water, some books and magazines. Except, it's pretty rare, at least among young adults, to have a pair that actually match your bed as set. So, you've gotta find ones that are similar in wood tone and details and hardware and trim...or you can just skip the traditional nightstand altogether, and opt for one of these alternatives instead.